


Battle of the Big Gay Bands

by geekchic64



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: And anxious, Band Fic, Battle of the Bands baby!, F/F, and broke af, everyone's gay in this
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-23
Updated: 2019-09-13
Packaged: 2020-09-24 23:02:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 14,448
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20366548
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/geekchic64/pseuds/geekchic64
Summary: The Battle of the Bands competition was at the end of the year, and it was Catra and Adora's way out of their crappy lives. But, of course, having Shadow Weaver and Hordak in charge of your record label can only mean super shady business.When musicians start getting hurt and bands start dropping out of the competition, Adora walks away from The Horde to play with another (very less shady) band: Bright Moon.There's angst. And a lot of punk music. It's gunna be fun.





	1. The first one

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New fandom who dis.
> 
> Waddup, long time no post! Ya girl is now a college graduate and a full on Working Girl to boot. After binge watching this series and reading some really awesome pieces of ff, I was suddenly struck with inspiration to write again after a too-long hiatus. It was nice :)
> 
> But anyway, I know nothing about guitars or rock bands so whoops. But I did listen to a lot of mcr while writing this, so...
> 
> Enjoy! X

“No, no, _ no – enough. _ It is all _ wrong_.”

With the screech of guitars the small, stuffy room became quiet. On the other side of the recording glass Shadow Weaver could been seen furiously pacing back and forth, her jaw clenched in a way that never meant anything good.

Adora pulled off her headphones to smooth her flyaways down and run her hand through her ponytail. Trying to suppress what must have been her eightieth sigh of frustration since they started rehearsal nearly four hours ago, she looked over to see Catra very obviously biting her tongue. Catra’s grip on her bass guitar tightened until her knuckles were white and a vein popped out on her forehead.

_ Here we go… _

Adora put her headphones back on waiting for the inevitable explosion.

“What do you _ mean _ it’s all wrong, Shadow Weaver? We’ve been playing the same shitty song for the last hour and a half!” Catra bared her teeth but couldn’t hide her own painful wince as Shadow Weaver snapped back to the control panel.

“The song wouldn’t be shitty if the people _ playing _ it weren’t shitty, _ Catra,_” the cold voice sounding tinny coming through the headphones. “If you actually managed to play the correct chords at the correct time, like everyone else, then _ maybe _ we could actually record something _ worth recording_,” Shadow Weaver finished with clenched teeth. Next to her behind the glass, Kyle shrunk behind his clipboard.

Adora gulped and looked at her other band mates. Rogelio was staring blankly at the microphone in front of him, while Lonnie twirled her drumsticks, eyes flickering between Catra and Shadow Weaver. A blowup like this was, unfortunately, pretty common. Before Adora could step in to try and defuse the situation, Shadow Weaver continued speaking with a jab at a button.

“Catra,” her voice was chillingly calm now. “Just look at Adora.”

_ No, do not look at Adora! Adora hasn’t done anything! Adora is just trying to get through this _ hellish _ rehearsal in one piece so she can go back to her leftover wontons back at her cardboard box of an apartment! _

But despite her strong mental wishes, Weaver continued talking as Catra’s jaw began to grind so hard Adora was afraid she would break her teeth. A slight twitch was at the corner of her yellow eye.

“Not only is Adora carrying this band with her beautiful vocals, of which are never flat unlike some, she can _ also _ play backup guitar at the same time. And she actually manages to pull herself out of her disgusting apartment to get to rehearsal on time. Because _ Adora _ understands the importance of being prompt and on time and _ not _ making her band mates and manager wait _ twenty-seven _ minutes for her to show up just to screech through a simple song.”

Adora wanted to jump in at this point. Or off a bridge, really. She wanted to stop Shadow Weaver. Reassure Catra. Beat back the furious blush taking over her face that made her feel both way too hot and full of shame.

_ Secondhand embarrassment was the worst. _

It wasn’t _ Catra’s _ fault she was late. Well, at least not today. Her car’s battery had died (because – apparently – no matter how many times Adora reminded her, Catra always forgot to turn off her headlights) and so she had to take the bus. Which is never the most reliable to begin with.

But she could feel her heart pounding in her chest, regardless of the fact that this argument has happened at least twenty times before. So Adora kept quiet and hoped her best friend would follow suit.

Of course she didn’t.

She never does.

“Catra --” Adora reach out, but Catra was already tearing off her own pair of headphones and racing up to the glass window.

“Now you listen here you old crusty hag --” her words punctuated with a jab at the glass, fingerprints smudging but not taking away Shadow Weaver’s smirk. “I have put my fucking blood sweat and more fucking blood into this goddamn band. I have shredded my hands getting these songs as perfect as your snobby ass demands them to be -- _ and then some _ . So don’t you _ fucking _ dare question me _ or _ my loyalty to The Horde again, _Shadow__ Weaver. _ And also…”

Catra’s shouting and jabbing at the glass continued as Adora felt a hard poke at her back. Turning around Lonnie was leaning on the toms with an unamused look. 

“She does realize Shadow Weaver turned off the mics, right? She can’t hear a damn word this fool is screaming.”

Adora sighed and turned back around to look at her best friend who was still yelling but now also jumping up and down, her curls bouncing wildly.

“You would think she’d pick up on that after the first three times,” Rogelio drawled next to them, plucking at his guitar strings.

“Well, I mean, she is stubborn,” replied Adora.

“And stupid.”

Adora shot a look at Rogelio who just put up his hands in surrender.

“Diagnosed with dumb bitch disease…” murmured Lonnie.

With one last roll of her eyes, Adora stepped aside the mic in front of her and made her way to Catra.

“Okay, okay, Catra,” Adora put her gentle -- but mostly firm -- grip on the practically seething girl and started dragging her back to her spot in the studio. “Jesus, you’re going to blow a blood vessel at this rate. We don’t have health insurance, so you literally cannot afford that, so chill out.”

Catra ripped herself out of Adora’s grip, but didn’t move away. Adora crossed her arms and waited for her to stop her panting to finally look at her. So naturally Catra’s stare-down with Shadow Weaver lasted another full minute.

_ So stubborn... _

If Adora could mentally sigh herself into oblivion, she’d be doing so right now.

Eventually Catra’s two-toned eyes met hers. 

“I swear to fucking Christ, Adora, I’m going to murder that woman.”

“Yeah well you can’t do that if she murders you first.” Turning back to the glass wall (_ where did Kyle go? Ugh, is he hiding under the table again?? _), Adora pointed to her headphones signaling for Shadow Weaver to unmute. Her manager made no motion to do so, but Adora saw her leg jerk forward. Slowly, Kyle’s shaking hand reached up from under the table and felt around until he hit the correct button.

“I think now is a good time for a 5 minute break,” Adora told Shadow Weaver. A pause. Then a shard nod.

“Thank fuck…” Lonnie groaned as she stood up from her drum set and left the studio.

“Bitches be crazy,” Rogelio added walking behind her.

Adora saw Catra clench her fist, but before she could explode again, Adora picked up her water bottle from the floor and shoved it at her.

“Here, drink and cool off.”

Catra rolled her eyes, but did what she was told. 

(And as she chugged from the bottle Adora didn’t know why she stared at her jawline or the way her throat moved as she swallowed or how there was a drop of water that spilled out of the side of Catra’s mouth and it was slowly making its way down her chin to her neck and -- huh?)

“I can’t believe you actually drink out of this stupid ‘useless lesbian’ bottle. You’re such a gay disaster,” Catra finished with a smirk as she shoved the bottle back at Adora.

Taking the bottle back, Adora shoved Catra with her shoulder.

“_ You’re _ the one who got it for me, you equally gay disaster.” Catra snickered and it helped ease the ever-present anxiety that lived in her chest. 

_ She’s stubborn but that’s part of why we love her. Ew, gross. _

“And you’re lucky you’re still a _ living _ gay disaster, Catra.”

A scoff. Adora looked to make sure Shadow Weaver had left the studio before continuing.

“No, I’m serious. It’s like you’re asking Shadow Weaver or Hordak to kick you out of The Horde.”

“Oh please, Adora. No matter what that jealous bitch says about me, she knows she needs me.” A quick twitch of her eyebrows, but was quickly covered by a smirk. “Not all of us can have _ beautiful vocals _ like our adored princess - ha - get it, adored?”

_ Wow, never heard that one before. _

“Some of us actually have to put in the extra effort and practice. Not me, of course, I’m mostly talking about Kyle. He’s, like, so ready to play keyboard despite the fact we’ll never use keyboards. Like. Ever,” Catra snickered. “Sucker.”

Adora pushed her again with her shoulder and made to leave the studio.

“Come on, stupid. We’ve only got a five minute break and I’ve had to pee so bad for the last hour.”

“TMI.”

The pair walked through the other side of the studio out into the lobby. Lonnie was leaning against the wall and Rogelio was sitting in a mediation pose on the floor. Kyle was… somewhere. Hopefully no longer under the table in the studio.

“Shadow Weaver left. Took a call, said you gave her a migraine, and that she was wasting her time here,” Lonnie shrugged. “We’re gunna go get some burgers if you two are done making out and want to join us.”

“Lonnie what the fuck --”

“We were _ not _making out --”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Lonnie pushed off the wall and Rogelio smirked from the floor. “Last one there has to cover the tip,” and then she was gone, but not before Catra could quip,

“But, Lonnie, isn’t the tip the best part?” A middle finger was her only answer which made Catra cackle. 

Rogelio pushed off the floor and he and Catra were about to leave when they noticed Adora wasn’t following.

“Better hurry Adora, or your gay self is going to have to suffer the tip,” more cackles.

“Okay, that’s not even that funny Catra. Besides, I was going to stay behind and finish the last few kinks -_ don’t _ \- of this song I’ve been working on. You guys go on ahead, I’ll see you next rehearsal.”

Rogelio shrugged, stuffed his hands into his jeans pockets, and walked away. Kyle suddenly appeared from behind a fake potted tree down the hall and Rogelio just grabbed his arm to make him follow.

Catra leaned against the wall and raised her one eyebrow.

“New material? I hope it’s better than a burger, Princess, because that’s what you’re making me miss out on right now.”

“What, oh no, Catra. You don’t have to stay. Really. I don’t even know how long I’ll be and I doubt you had any lunch since you were late.”

Catra just shrugged. “Eh, I stole Kyle’s lunch from his bag when he wasn’t looking. Do you know he still has his mom cut the crust off his sandwiches?”

Adora laughed, but couldn’t say she was too shocked. Both that Catra stole Kyle’s lunch and that his mom, well, whatever. She wasn’t shocked.

“So what’s this super-secret secret you’ve been holding out on me? I thought we shared _ everything _, Adora,” Catra practically purred as she draped herself over Adora’s shoulders. She was warm and her curls tickled where they touched Adora’s face and - 

_ Wow, did they accidentally crank the heat up in here? Why am I all of a sudden so sweaty? _

Adora pushed Catra off of her and walked back into the studio.

“It’s not even that secret, stupid. It’s just some lyrics I’ve been scribbling down and I’m hoping to knock some chords out today.”

“Booooring.”

Catra dropped herself into one of the two swivel chairs in front of the soundboard while Adora started unpacking her acoustic guitar. Catra raised her eyebrows when she saw.

“Parlour? What, you writing a sappy love song, Adora?”

“What, pft, ha, a love, what? No. No, uh, definitely not.”

“Then why are you blushing.”

“Because it’s not a love song, jerk! And - I don’t know, the heat must be broken in here… Or something… Oh, stop laughing. You can just leave, you know.”

Catra finally stopped herself from laughing at Adora but just slowly spun in her chair.

“You know what, I think I’ll stay. I want to get the first scoop on this totally-not-a-love-song love song.”

“Catra, I already told you it’s _ not _ a lo -”

“-Hoooooooly shit…”

Glancing over, Catra was staring at something under the other end of the soundboard.

“What now?”

Catra got up and grabbed a black bag from the floor. With wide eyes, holding a scary mischievous glint, Catra let a wicked grin spread over her face.

“It’s Shadow Weaver’s black hole! Holy crap -- there’s gotta be so many managerial secrets in here! Hey -- do you think there’s anything from Hordak in here? Maybe our future venues or something?”

With the excitement of a kid on Christmas day, Catra quickly upended the bag, notebooks and folders spilling out. 

“Wait, Catra, I don’t think we should -”

“Adora, are you really going to pass up the chance to snoop on Shadow Weaver?”

Adora rolled her eyes at the judgment on Catra’s face.

“I don’t think we should go through that with the door currently _ unlocked _,” Adora finished. “Jeez, it’s like you don’t even know who I am.”

Cackling, Catra raced over to lock the door and then ran back to start opening various notebooks. Adora placed her guitar back in the case.

_ So much for extra rehearsal time. Eh, oh well. _

“God, that witch has terrible handwriting. I can’t understand half of this.”

Adora opened one of the black folders in front of her. It was massive, practically bursting at the seems, and looked very thoroughly used. Catra peered over her shoulder as she slipped packets of papers out.

“Ew, gross, are those our finances? God, how broke are we?”

Adora scanned the numbers, trying to make sense of it all. Her brows furrowed when she noticed duplicate account numbers and dates, seemingly a copy of each other, but recording different numbers.

“Oh my god…” Adora whispered.

“What? What is it? Oh my god are we _ rich_? I knew they’ve been holding out on us,” Catra grabbed Adora’s arm, her claw-like fingernails leaving scratch marks.

“Catra… Catra, I just realized something massive… I … I remembered I hate accounting.”

With a massive groan, Catra pushed Adora away from her while the other girl started laughing loudly.

“God, I hate you, you dramatic bitch.”

Now it was Adora’s turn to hang over Catra.

“Awww, no you don’t. You looove me, Catra.”

With one more shove, and one more loud laugh, Adora moved back to the folders on the soundboard.

“No, I seriously have no idea what any of this means. I was never the best at math, anyway.”

“Yeah, speaking as the person whose homework you copied almost every night, I know.”

They snooped for another couple of minutes in silence. Just as Adora was about to call it quits, she found something actually interesting.

“Hey, Catra, aren’t these the other bands who signed up for the comp at the end of the year?”

“Huh?” Catra looked up from the notebook she was intently reading. Her jaw was twitching in the way that always meant she was upset about something, but Adora knew not to push.

_ Not after what happened with Shadow Weaver earlier today _.

Catra put the notebook down and walked over to lean next to Adora and took some of the packets from the folder.

“Oh, uh, yeah. I think so. Oh -- yeah, here’s that one hippy band who gave their keyboardist like a twenty minute solo. Petals or something was the chick’s name.”

“It literally says her name, Perfuma, right there on the page.”

“Whatever, reading comprehension is for nerds. Plus, the giant X over the page doesn’t help.”

Adora scanned the pages in front of her. It was filled to the brim with information on bands; each member’s name and address with their photo, rehearsal schedules, a list of their equipment. Even their food allergies. It was all there.

“This is like, really stalkerish. Why would Shadow Weaver need this?”

Catra pulled the rest of the packets out and began sorting them into two piles. One quickly became much larger than the other.

“Seventeen and eight… Adora, there are seventeen bands with an X on them.”

“Do you think… Does that mean they’re no longer, what, competition?”

“Dunno. And there’s no guess as to why Shadow Weaver’s twisted mind needed all of this dirt on other bands. Maybe she was just scoping out what we’ll be up against in a couple months? Christ knows she’s going out of her mind with all of this Battle of the Bands shit.”

“There’s also the fact that the winners get a grand prize of a hell of a lot of money.”

Catra laughed and nodded her head in agreement. After a moment, that same wicked grin came back. Her eyes met Adora’s, and Adora was taken aback by the intensity in the yellow and blue.

“Adora, do you know what this is?” Catra asked gesturing to the two piles without breaking eye contact.

“Uh-”

“It’s our ticket out of here. Who the fuck cares how or why Shadow Weaver has all of this dirt on the other bands. All that matters is that there’s less competition for us to face. Which means we’re practically _ guaranteed _ to win! This is it, Adora! The Horde will win and all of this shit will be worth it -- all of Shadow Weaver’s bitching and, oh my god, I could actually get myself a car instead of the piece of junk I have _ now _.”

Catra’s excitement was steadily growing louder, but Adora couldn’t ignore the concern eating away at her.

“No. Catra, no, this isn’t right.”

“Who cares! It happened anyway, so why cry about it.” But Catra knew Adora and she could tell that she wasn’t on board with this. Like, at all. With a sigh, Catra touched Adora’s arm.

“Hey, listen. I know your moral compass is spinning out of control right now. But this is what we’ve been working so hard at these last few years. This is it. Don’t even think about Shadow Weaver or Hordak. Think about this,” she gestured between the two of them. “Think about us. It’s you and me, Adora. Always has been, always will be, okay? This is just, I don’t know, a weird thing that popped up. But it doesn’t change the fact that we’re going to win that money and we can _ get out_.”

Adora bit her lip. Catra was right that it has always been the two of them against the odds for as long as she could remember. No matter what life threw at them, they got through it. For the most part at least (sometimes it cost them lopsided bangs and a terrible undercut they were both trying to grow out). And music was another thing the two of them had above all else. It was often the reason how they could get through so much disappointment and hurt in their lives.

But…

“I want to win, Catra, obviously. But this isn’t fair.”

Catra groaned, dragging her hands down her face, and moved away from Adora.

“It’s not like they had any actual talent to begin with. They wouldn’t have made it far anyway. So what’s the issue?” She raised her arms in frustration, but Adora could feel herself cementing further into her feelings.

“The issue is that Shadow Weaver, and probably Hordak, are up to something really shady! That’s not okay with me. I want to look into this more,” Adora finished with a mumble and reached over to the ‘X’ pile. Tugging her phone out of the back pocket of her jeans, she quickly took pictures of all seventeen front pages. 

“God, this feels like that scene from _ The Incredibles _when Mr. Incredible learns about the deaths of all of his old super friends,” Adora said as she put her phone away.

“Good movie.”

“Here, help me put all of this back. I’m sure Shadow Weaver is going to come back for her bag soon.” 

Catra stood with her lips in a thin line for a moment before, very begrudgingly, helping Adora clean up the mess of notebooks and folders.

“I still think you’re being a dramatic Girl Scout about all of this. I’m only helping you because you owe me a burger and I’m so hungry I could eat my own arm. I’d eat yours first but your damn Wonder Woman muscles would be too chewy.”

“Jeez, Catra, that’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.”

“Only for you, Princess.”

“Also, you know I’m not a Girl Scout, right?”

A shrug.

They finished cleaning up in silence, but Adora’s thoughts were running a mile a minute.

_ Seriously, why does Shadow Weaver have all of this stuff? There’s no way she actually took out all of those bands, right? That’s, that’s crazy. Right? I mean, I know she can totally fly off the handle, and she’s never won “Manager of the Year,” but she wouldn’t go this far. No. No way. _

A beat.

_ But Hordak… He would. Without hesitating. I’ve only meet that guy a couple times but it was enough to know I’d rather not hang out with him. Makes my anxiety skyrocket. And he’s always been obsessed with becoming a big record label. And winning Battle of the Bands would be the push he was looking for _.

Adora put Shadow Weaver’s bag back under the soundboard and began to gather her own bag and guitar case.

“You don’t want to work on your new song?”

Adora looked through the glass to their setup in the recording room.

“Nah, I’m not really feeling it anymore. Besides, I’ve got to run some errands; my meds are about to run out and I need to refill my prescription.”

With a shrug and an “alright,” Catra followed Adora back out into the hallway. Just as Adora was going to ask Catra if she wanted to join her (or at least let Adora give her a ride back to her apartment so she wouldn’t have to suffer on public transportation), they saw Shadow Weaver stalking down the hallway.

“Oh god.”

Straightening back up, Adora flashed a small smile (well, it was more like a grimace) to Shadow Weaver when the woman got closer to them. Catra just tossed her hair and leaned against the wall, not looking at their manager.

“Hi, uh, Mrs. Ms? Wait, are you married? I’ve never seen you wearing a ring, oh,” a cough,” Uh, Shadow Weaver,” Adora said lamely. Catra agreed with a kick to the back of her leg.

But Shadow Weaver paid Adora no attention, eyes locked on Catra.

_ Uh-oh. Uh, quick Adora. Um, evasive maneuver number f! _

“Anyways, always nice chatting with you, Shadow Weaver, but Catra has an appointment at uh, the nail salon, and I’m driving her there since her car is dead and yup great rehearsal see you later!” Adora rushed out and grabbed Catra’s arm to walk her down to the elevators, but Shadow Weaver’s voice cut through.

“Stop.”

And they did.

“Catra. In the studio. Now.” 

And then she was gone.

Catra hung her head as she moved out of Adora’s grip.

“Wait, Catra.”

“No, it’s fine,” Catra glared at the door Shadow Weaver had just walked through. “It’s nothing I haven’t been through already. That hag is getting predictable in her old age.” Squaring her shoulders Catra started walking forward towards the door. A quick glance over her shoulder allowed Adora to spot the fear she was trying to hide behind shaky bravado.

“I’ll wait for you out here. I’m sure you won’t be that long, right? And you don’t think she’ll notice we, y’know, found her stuff?”

A hand on the doorknob, “just go home Adora,” and then Adora was alone in the hallway. 

Adora’s shoulders slumped, but after a minute of staring at the studio door, she turned and walked away.

.x.x.x.x.

As soon as her car was in park Adora checked her phone, but Catra still hadn’t texted her. She allowed her head to drop down onto the steering wheel for a moment, before sighing and dragging herself out of the car. After a brutal rehearsal Adora was in desperate need of some tea with honey, which is why she stopped at a locally owned cafe she hadn’t been to before.

“Plumeria is a weird name, but I bet they have great herbal teas,” she said to herself as she walked through the doors. Immediately the smells of different flowers and spices surrounded Adora, filling her head. “Whoa.”

It was definitely a hipster cafe, and she could hear Catra’s judgment already in her head. From the wind chime that rung out as she opened the door to the seemingly complete absence of any sort of single use plastic. There was a tall, thin woman wearing a pink dress standing on a stool behind the register, updating the chalk menu. Adora could see streaks of pinks and blues and purples littering the woman’s already colorful attire and the cast that was covering her left wrist. Upon closer inspection, the woman’s cast was colored in with different types of flower doodles and names scribbled.

At the wind chimes’ melody, the woman looked over her shoulder and flashed Adora a brilliant smile.

“Be with you in just a moment!”

When the woman turned back to finish her chalking, Adora squinted her eyes.

“Wait a minute… Do I know her?” Adora kept staring at the woman’s back but she couldn’t figure out how she thought she knew her. With a flourish and a soft “ha!” the woman stepped down from the stool and smiled again at Adora.

“Hi there! What can I get ya on this beautiful day?”

Adora blinked and pulled herself out of her mental detectiving. 

_ Detecting? Detectiving? Whatever, words are hard. _

“Uh, I’ll take a medium of your …” Adora glanced up at the menu that of course listed every type of tea that had ever been discovered. “Whatever you think is best for soothing sore throats. Thanks.”

“Do you have any other symptoms of a possible cold? Or just a sore throat?”

“Just a sore throat.”

With another smile and a sage nod the woman entered her order.

“I think you’ll like this one. It’s a nice blend of our chamomile, slippery elm, and marshmallow root! With just a dash of orange to top it off,” she finished with an actual clap and smile that made her eyes squinty.

“Uh, thanks. I’ll let you know what I think of it.”

“Sure! Can I get a name for the order?”

“Adora.”

“Okay, Adora. Your order will be ready soon, and welcome to Plumeria!”

“Thanks,” Adora replied but the other woman was already off brewing her tea.

Finding an empty table near the front windows, Adora sat down and pulled out her phone and opened her chat with Catra.

_ Catra [9:37]: i s2g the driver just touched my ass as i got off this fckin bus. public transport is literally The Worst™ _

_ Adora [9:37]: Just hurry up, s weaver is in one of her moods. _

_ Catra [9:41]: yeah yeah im comin dont get ur panties in a twist _

_ Adora [2:19]: Hey, everything okay? _

_ Adora [2:31]: I’m ordering takeout tonight, lmk if you want anything _

_ Adora [2:32]: From your fave wing placw _

_ Adora [2:32]: Even tho I hate their blue cheese _

_ Adora [2:35]: *place _

_ Adora [2:49]: Catra? _

Still no reply.

Adora dropped her phone back down onto the table and stared out of the large window. Two people were getting out of a car, a tall and lean man and a short woman with light purple hair, just as Adora heard her name being called out.

Looking up, the barista was walking her order over to her.

“Enjoy,” she practically sang out as Adora took the warm mug from her.

It smelled delicious.

At the same moment the two people from the parking lot entered, making the woman cheer out.

“Bow! Glimmer! Two of my best friends and customers, I am so happy to see you!”

_ What kinda names... _

The man returned her grin and easily accepted the offered hug. The shorter woman accepted it… less easily.

“We literally texted you, like, half an hour ago telling you we would be here,” quipped the shortest of the trio.

“What Glimmer means to say,” the man - Bow - quickly swooped in. “Is that we are happy to see you, too, Perfuma,” he finished. 

Adora, who had chanced a small first sip of her drink right before she heard the barista’s name, spluttered and choked on the hot tea, coughing it all over the table and herself.

Worried glances were shot her way, but Adora waved them off as she reached for cloth on the table to wipe up the mess.

“I’m fine… I’m fine…” she wheezed and coughed.

_ Oh my god… _ Perfuma? _ As in the keyboardist from that one hippy indie band Perfuma? There’s no freaking way. _

Adora glanced back at the cast on Perfuma’s wrist, her gut sinking as she recalled the giant black X that covered her band’s page.

_ Okay, but that doesn’t mean Shadow Weaver or Hordak did that. Maybe it was just an accident? I mean, she did get a huge solo at that show we scoped out. Clearly she was the backbone of her band. And her vocals were strong, too, if I remember correctly. Gah, I just had a long day is all. This is nothing, just Shadow Weaver playing games with my head. _

Adora got up from her table and made her way to the bathrooms in the back to try and dab out some of the tea stains now splattered on her shirt.

“How were auditions,” she heard Perfuma ask the duo.

“Great - lots of talent!”

“It was terrible and everyone sucked and my mom is going to pull this project and I’m never going to make anything out of my life and I’m not...”

Glimmer’s bemoaning faded out to nothing as Adora entered the bathroom. She quickly wet a paper towel and started to salvage what she could from her shirt.

_ Guess I really have to do laundry today. Ugh. Being an adult sucks. _

But her mind started to drift back to the three very interesting strangers in the front of the shop.

_ I wonder if Bow and Glimmer are also in a band. Well, it sounds like they’re trying to be at least. Or maybe they’re auditioning for a play, or something. There are a bunch of ~artistic~ people in this part of town, so it wouldn’t surprise me. _

But worry gnawed at Adora’s stomach. After a few beats of hesitation, she whipped out her phone and opened the pictures of Weaver’s band intel. She quickly scanned the list of members for each group, hoping against odds she wouldn’t find what she feared.

“No… No… No - wait, what kind of name is Sea Hawk? ‘Fire to equipment.’ Damn, Shadow Weaver set his stuff on fire? Oh wait, no it says he normally does that… But the last one spread faster and further. Hmm... No… No… N- Aha! _ The Princess Alliance, _ha. Oh my god Catra would lose it at that one. With Bow on… drums and Glimmer on, hmm, I bet you she was bass. She seems like she’s got enough angst for it, at least.”

“Excuse me?” A voice cut through Adora’s commentary.

With a startled scream, Adora twirled around, one hand on her chest and the other holding a death grip on her phone.

_ Oh fu- _

“You were talking about us.” It was Glimmer. Hands on her hips, glare on full blast, and her lips turn downward. Even though Adora had almost a foot on her, she still stepped back until her back hit the edge of the sink.

_ When did she even get in here? What is she some kind of ninja? _

“Uh - huh? What, no I wasn’t,” Adora tried. But Glimmer rolled her eyes and stalked forward, an accusing finger pointed at Adora.

“Oh don’t play dumb with me, Blondie. I heard you talking about The Princess Alliance and how I am full of angst!” Glimmer pulled back and now looked offended for an entirely different reason. “Which I’m not, I’ll have you know. I’m just trying to figure out what I’m doing and my mother breathing down my neck every five seconds doesn’t help shit! And all I want is the Alliance back but noooo. ‘It’s a stupid name, Glimmer,’” her tone was now a mocking one as she mimed someone talking. 

Adora glanced at the door behind Glimmer and started inching toward freedom while Glimmer continued her not-full-of-angst angsty rant.

“‘What are we, in sixth grade again?’”

_ Inching…. Inching… like a silent night… I am the shadows, I am the darkness… _

“‘Let's name ourselves the Wondrous Adventurous Non-Gendered Pirates Who Love Shanties and Setting Fires because that’s not a mouthful at all!’ 

_ Almost there… Almost…. _

‘Oh what about the fact that you can’t have a band name if you _ don’t have a band _!’”

Just as Adora was reaching for the door, ready to cut her loses and sprint to her car, Glimmer pulled herself out of her tirade.

“Wait! Where do you think you’re going?”

Adora gulped.

“To… my… tea? Yes, my tea! My,” a cough, and then a more strangled voice, “my throat hurts and I have a very, very contagious disease. So best to stay away from me. Yes, far back,” Adora coughed again.

Glimmer blinked.

“A-heh?” Adora gave a weak laugh.

Glimmer squinted her eyes.

“I also heard you talk about Sea Hawk and his Unsolved Case of the Mysterious and Totally Not Self-inflicted Arson. How do you know about that? The police didn’t release that information.”

One second.

Two seconds.

Three seconds.

“_ Yeet_!”

Adora ran.

Glimmer chased.

Literally jumping over tables, Adora sprinted through the cafe to get to the exit. Quickly swiping her keys from her table, Glimmer hot on her tail, Adora called over her shoulder,

“Thanksfortheteaitwasreallygreatokaybyehaveaniceday!”

Bow and Perfuma blinked in confusion.

“Wh…?”

“Bow -- stop her!” she heard Glimmer shout as Adora pushed through the main doors. 

It was while Adora was fumbling with her keys that she wished she had enough money to actually buy a damn key fob for her piece of junk with wheels. But no, she had to be a broke millennial who had to open her car with her keys in the door every time. Even when a crazy lunatic was chasing her. 

_ Fuck you, capitalism. _

Just as she managed to unlock and open her door, a hand reached over and slammed it back shut. And for the second time in five minutes, Adora screamed. Her keys flew through her hands and landed … somewhere.

_ So much for escape. _

Turning around, Adora met Bow’s sheepish smile.

“Um, sorry about that. Glimmer can be a bit scary when she’s all demanding and stuff.”

“Yeah, I noticed that.”

Bow must have realized that Adora was stuck (or he just had more manners than his partner) because he let go of her car door and stepped back enough to comfortably reach a hand out.

“Hi, I’m Bow,” he said with a friendly smile.

“Adora,” she shook his hand. 

A stressed gasp brought their attention to Glimmer, who was bent over a few feet away with her hands on her knees.

“You good, Glimmer?”

She put her finger up signaling to give her a second.

“Gotta… do … more cardio,” she said between gasps.

Bow and Adora awkwardly waited for her to catch her breath.

“So, Adora, you come here often?”

“First time, actually.”

“Oh, nice.”

“Yeah.”

More wheezing.

“Oh, um. Here are your keys. Sorry for scaring you.”

Adora took the offered keys.

“Hey, what a minute. Where do I know that symbol?” Bow asked, pointing to the charm hanging on her keychain. It was glossy gray with red dragon wings.

“Hm? Oh, that’s the symbol for my band, The -”

“The Horde!” Bow exclaimed with excitement from suddenly remembering. But then realization dawned and his wide eyes were suddenly filled with fear. “Oh my god, you’re from The Horde?”

“A-ha!” shouted Glimmer, finally having caught her breath. “I _ knew _it! I knew you seemed fishy.”

“Glimmer, don’t be rude.”

Glimmer turned to look up at Bow. “I heard her mumbling to herself like some evil villain -”

“Evil vil - now that’s just uncalled for -”

“- about us and Sea Hawk’s fatal fire-”

“He’s not dead, Glim-”

“- And _ now _ it makes sense why you almost died when you heard Perfuma’s name!” Glimmer rounded on Adora.

_ She is very short but also very big… Help. _

“I bet you came here to make sure she still couldn’t play! And, what, Bow and I are next? Huh? _ Huh? _”

“I… I don’t really know what’s happening.”

“Don’t play dumb with _ me_, Blondie! Evil spying Blondie!” 

“Okay, that’s enough, Glimmer. Why don’t you actually let Adora talk for a second before you accuse her of any more conspiracy theories?”

A stare-down between Bow and Glimmer, that finally ended with Glimmer caving.

“Fine,” she said, crossing her arms. “But I’m watching you,” as she flicked two fingers between her eyes and Adora’s.

Bow cleared his throat.

“Thank you, Glimmer. Now, Adora,” he turned to her. “You’re part of The Horde?”

“Yeah. I’m their singer, actually.” 

Bow’s face lit up again as he released his own squeaky “a-ha!” pointing at Adora.

“Yes! I recognize your weird little hair bump thing now!”

“Seriously, why is everyone attacking my hair today?”

“Man, you’re really good. Me, Glimmer, and some of our friends went to one of your shows a few weeks back. Y’know, trying to scope out the competition? Well, that was more so Glimmer, I just really liked your badass punk vibe. Makes me feel like I’m in middle school again.”

“Wait, _ middle school_? Hold up, we’re not a _ middle schooler _ band, okay? We’re cool,” Adora defended.

“Sure,” Bow agreed easily. Adora glared more. “But you put on a good show. Honestly, we could totally use an alto like you for the music we’re trying to produce. Do you think you know anyone looking to join a band? Or - hey! You could join us! Oh, wait, no, I was just talking about how you have your own band. Oh well.” 

“Bow, we don’t need her to join our band. We just had a really good audition session today,” Glimmer cut in.

“But you just told Perfuma that it was terrible and everyone sucked?”

“Well… Not everyone? There was that one girl? With the face? Who -- whatever, the point is that we don’t need someone from _ The Horde_,” Glimmer spat out.

“Whoa, whoa. I haven’t done anything wrong. All I wanted was some tea and to go home to my wontons. That’s no reason to crucify me -- you don’t even know me.”

“She’s got a point.”

But Glimmer wasn’t hearing Bow. Her entire face was scrunched in anger.

“I think I know enough about you, you Horde soldier. You and your evil friends and your evil label are obsessed with winning the Big Battle of the Bands and will stop at nothing to make sure it happens.”

“I literally have no idea what you’re accusing me of.”

“Really?! Just look at Perfuma! Or Sea Hawk. Or the Princess Alliance! All people brimming with talent -”

“Actually, we’re usually a little sharp with our vocals and I could really use a new -”

“Shut it, Bow! We were all competition, until, suddenly, we weren’t. Perfuma has a broken wrist. Sea Hawk loses his set and equipment. The Princess Alliance is disbanded. And The Horde becomes one step closer to winning each time. Curious, isn’t it.”

Adora bit her lip and looked away from the pair. Unbeknownst to Glimmer, she was pretty much validating each and every one of Adora’s newly found fears.

_Shadow Weaver really did all of those things, didn’t she? How have I not noticed? Am I really that blind? I wonder if Catra knew… She would have told me though. Wouldn’t she? Yes, what are you crazy, Adora? Catra’s your best friend, she _ totally _ would have told you if our manager and producer were literal evil people. _

“Those are just coincidences. You can’t prove that it was because of The Horde.”

Before Glimmer could yell some more, Bow held her back.

“She has a point. These are just theories we’ve been throwing around. It’s not fair of us to assume Adora had anything to do with anything.” Bow turned to her with a friendly smile. “If we haven’t scared you off already, and I wouldn’t really blame you if we have, we would love to have you join us for a jam session. We usually have them on Friday nights at 8 at The Moonstone. It’s a little bar, well, bar is a bit too grungy for what it really is, but it’s super chill. It’d be really cool if you showed up,” he finished hopefully.

“Catra and I have our bad reality tv show binges on Friday nights,” Adora replied without thinking. 

“Invite her, too! The more the merrier.”

“Yeah, the more the merrier. Tooootally would love to have two Hordies crash it,” Glimmer grumbled with an eye roll.

Adora pursed her lips but didn’t reply to her.

Seeing her hesitation, Bow gave her his best pout, puppy dog eyes and all.

“Oh god. Okay, okay. Jeez, I’ll ask her and we’ll see, alright?”

“Yes!” Bow cheered and did a little dance. “Well, we’ll stop harassing you now. It was really great meeting you, Adora, and I hope we see you tomorrow night!”

“Yeah, whatever, nice meeting you, Adora.”

Adora slowly nodded.

“Uh-huh, yeah you, too, Bow and Glimmer. Good luck with your search for a vocalist,” Adora said as she slowly got into her car. She was scared that moving too fast would trigger something else in the two and she really would never live past this parking lot.

Starting her car and driving away, she watched Bow continue to smile and wave and Glimmer glare at her.

“That wasn’t weird at all, no sir,” Adora sighed and rubbed at her forehead. 

So many thoughts raced through her mind. How she was going to tell Catra about all of this and invite her to the jam session. How The Horde apparently had a not-so-good reputation within the band community. That Shadow Weaver and Hordak might live in a lair cackling over their evil plots. But there was one thought that troubled Adora the most as she drove on autopilot back to her apartment.

“Aw man, my tea!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Someone once told me that one of my earlier works took a while to get going, so I decided to throw all of the plot right into the first chap of this one.
> 
> ur welcome
> 
> Lmk what you think! (also I wrote all of this in like three days so pls be kind with any errors). Massive s/o to highlevelidiot.carrd.co for always being the best soundboard with my fics. no spoilers or anything, but there's gunna be a playlist, too.
> 
> I'm at whatwordsmiss.tumblr.com if u wanna chat :)


	2. The second one

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> House Hunters, Taco Bell, and Jam Sessions -- oh my!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who took a chance on the first chapter and liked it enough to click on chapter two :) I wrote most of this at work ngl with no beta so pls be kind to any errors
> 
> Enjoy! X

“What the hell, Adora? I can’t believe you would do this to me,” Catra’s voice was laced with betrayal.

“Oh, don’t be dramatic.” Adora replied, not bothering to look up from her phone. “You knew those wontons were for me. I got you an extra order of crab rangoons. Top shelf in the back of the fridge.”

Adora heard a happy squeal from her best friend and then the rattle of her fridge door being thrown open. The crinkle of a bag and beeping of Adora’s old microwave followed soon after, but Adora was still staring intensely at her phone.

“Hey, Catra?” She called. “Have you ever heard of The Princess Alliance?” 

“M’haha, ‘a wha’?” Catra laughed with a mouth full of food. Adora finally looked up to watch with thinly veiled disgust as Catra shoved three rangoons in her mouth at once.

_ Why is she like this? _

“You better not choke because neither of us can afford an ambulance.” In response, Catra made a show of dramatically chewing and then opening her mouth and sticking her tongue out at Adora.

“There, I lived, bitch,” Catra walked over to turn on the TV and then plopped down next to Adora on the lumpy and worn sofa. Flipping through the limited channels, Catra asked, “why in the world do you think I would ever know about something called The Princess Alliance? I thought you knew me better than that, Adora,” she finished with a smirk.

“They’re a band. Well, they _ were _ a band. I, guess -- oh hey wait I haven’t watched this episode of House Hunters yet.”

Catra rolled her eyes. “If you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all. A boringly normal straight couple is looking for a new house with ridiculously niche wants, a million dollar budget that is completely unrealistic, and they always pick the worst option. I’m vetoing.”

Adora pouted and folded her arms. But Catra knew she fought dirty so she put up a pillow barrier between them.

“Nope, no way are you making me cave with those sad, pathetic eyes.”

A sniffle.

“_No, _Adora. I can feel my blood pressure rising just thinking about that damn show.”

“But,” Adora whispered dejectedly, “I haven’t seen that episode yet.” Another sniffle.

_ Three… two… one… _

“Ugh -- fine, whatever! We’ll watch _ one episode _ of your terrible show,” Catra threw the pillow at Adora, who caught it with a grin.

“Yay!” Adora cheered and started poking Catra with her toes.

“Get your crusty feet away from me,” Catra whined, but Adora could see a smile forming. “Jesus, when was the last time you got a pedicure or something? Seriously, you could sand wood with those heels they’re so rough.” 

But Adora stuck out her tongue and just got comfier on the couch, resting her legs in Catra’s lap, with the other girl eventually -- and _ totally _ reluctantly -- accepting it. 

(And if Catra started mindlessly rubbing her thumb on Adora’s shin, well, neither of them mentioned it.)

“Seriously, I don’t understand how these people have such a huge budget. The dude literally opens mail for a living.”

“Catra, he just said he was a doctor.”

“Yeah, well, it’s pretty much the same skill set, anyway.”

“... Please don’t ever become a doctor.”

After a few more minutes of judging the Very Boring and Very Straight couple for their desired house features, Catra poked Adora in the leg.

“Hey, you were asking me about some stupid Princess band?”

“Oh, uh, yeah.” Adora took a breath and sat back up on the sofa, drawing her legs back from Catra’s lap. 

(She missed Catra’s hands almost immediately)

“So they were in those files we found. Shadow Weaver’s.” Catra raised an eyebrow. “I ran into a few of their members at this one coffee shop yesterday after I left. Oh - hey, how did it go with Shadow Weaver, by the way?”

The dark cloud that passed over Catra’s face was impossible to miss at the sudden change of topic. Her eyes hardened and her jaw clenched.

“S’fine,” Catra snapped, looking away from Adora and glaring at the couple on screen, who were very clearly leaning toward picking the wrong house.

_ Why do straight people have the worst taste in literally everything? _

“Because that’s totally a reaction to something that went fine”

“Yeah well I said it was _fine_, Adora, so fucking drop it,” Catra sneered.

“Hey… You can talk to me, Catra. You know that, right?” Adora reached out and laid her hand on Catra’s taut arm. “I mean, it wasn’t that bad, was it? Ha, she probably just, like, what? Assigned you some of Kyle’s jobs?”

But that was clearly the wrong thing to say because Catra whipped her head back to her, now glaring at Adora. Catra pulled her arm away from Adora's hand, and Adora furrowed her brows at the dark look on her best friend's face.

“Yeah, _ Adora _ . It was totally fine, we had a real good laugh about everything. Shadow Weaver’s got a funny kind of humor when I fuck up. But of course _ you _ wouldn’t know anything about that, huh? Miss. Perfect. Everyone loves _ you. _”

Cut off with a huff and crossed arms, Catra went back to glaring at the TV. Adora was at a loss for words. But eventually she squared her shoulders and reached back out to Catra.

“Hey, I’m on your side, dumbass.” Despite Catra trying to shove her hand off her arm, Adora held on. “No, I’m not just going to let you blow up like that -- at me, no less, someone who just gifted you a bag of delicious rangoons, _ uh, you’re welcome _. I’m not Shadow Weaver, and I don’t know what she said or did, but you’re more than whatever punishment she gave you.”

Adora leaned forward on the couch trying to catch Catra’s eye, but she kept turning her head the other way.

“Fuck off,” Catra weakly shot back. Adora was about to throw the pillow back at Catra, when -- _ oh jesus _ \-- she noticed Catra’s bottom lip trembling.

_ I swear to god, if she starts crying then I’m going to start crying. And then we’ll both be crying messes and I won’t get to see which house they pick in this episode. _

Retracting her hand once more, Adora stood up and made her way to the kitchen, a plan set in her mind.

She worked quietly and steadily, trying to give Catra as much time as possible to catch her breath, but not long enough she’d think Adora just left her.

_ Pft, as if. She’s still going to be annoying my ass when we’re both old, wrinkly, and in nursing homes. She'll probably be tampering with the breaks on my wheelchair or faking her death every two minutes. _

Finally, after a few moments, Adora walked back to the sofa and handed Catra a glass of chocolate milk that was more chocolate than milk. 

“Here,” she murmured and Catra slowly took the glass from her.

They sat in silence for some time. Catra drinking and gathering herself, and Adora patiently waiting.

“I told you they’d pick the worst option,” Catra finally said, quietly, nodding her head at the TV.

Adora gave her a small smile. But still, she waited.

Eventually, Catra set the now empty glass down on the coffee table and sighed. 

“Look -- I shouldn’t have, y’know, yelled like that, or whatever. So, ugh, sorry,” forced out as if someone was physically prying an apology from Catra, topped of with a grimace and an awkward rub of the back of her neck.

“Yeah,” Adora agreed easily. Truth be told, she was over it the minute it happened. But it was still nice to hear from Catra.

_ Lord knows it only took us years to get to this point. Catra, willingly apologizing after calming herself down. Really, we’re living in the Twilight Zone. Watch out world, talking rainbow horses are going to take to the skies soon! _

“Do you want to talk about it?” She asked, but Catra was already shaking her head.

“No.” Another sigh. “I’m okay. That bitch needs to get the stick out of her ass. I’m tired of her always breathing down my neck and yelling at me for petty shit.” 

“Yeah. She really needs to get laid,” Adora said casually. The horrific mental image was worth it because Catra almost fell off the sofa from her sudden onslaught of laughter.

“_Eeeew _, Adora,” she said shoving her onto the floor, but Adora just joined her in her laughter.

“What? It’s not like I’m wrong.”

But Catra abruptly stopped laughing. Slowly, she turned to look down at Adora, who was still on the floor and now leaning against the sofa.

“Do you think her and Hordak ever…?” 

A pause.

Two horrified looks shared.

Then,

“_Catra what the hell?” _

“Where’s your bleach? I need to wash my eyes.”

“Oh, god,” Adora bemoaned pushing herself off the floor and back onto the sofa. “I feel like I’m going to throw up now. Thanks for _ that _ nightmare fuel, you jerk.”

Catra snickered and grabbed the TV remote and started flipping through the channels again. After settling on some crime mystery show (“I bet you the neighbor did it”) Catra reached over and poked Adora in the forehead.

“Ow, Catra, why?”

“Because you’ve got the memory and the attention span of a goldfish, is why. Again, why are you asking me about a princess band?”

“Oh! Right!” Adora tore her eyes away from the TV. “Yeah, so, they were in Shadow Weaver’s files. Ran into some members at a cafe yesterday. Super nice - well, mostly nice - people. Bit weird. But they seem alright. Anyway, they invited us to one of their jam sessions tonight. I was planning on going and wanted to see if you wanted to go, too.”

Catra raised an eyebrow.

“So you want to hangout with our competition now?” Catra asked.

“What? No. Their band broke up. Something about a fire? Oh, no that was someone else. I’m not really sure, but I think it might’ve been Shadow Weaver’s doing.”

Catra started slowly nodding with her eyebrows scrunched. She started slowly rubbing her chin with her hand before shrugging and leaning back to continue watching TV.

“Nah, I’m good.”

Adora’s shoulders slumped.

“Really? You don’t want to come with me?” Adora asked disappointed.

“Nope.”

“Oh…” Adora sunk back into the sofa.

A beat.

“Oh, don’t cry, Adora. I’m just fucking with you,” Catra interrupted with a grin. “How could I ever pass up a chance to see a bunch of singing princesses. I bet you they only cover Carly Rae Jepsen songs.”

“Woot,” Adora cheered, throwing her hands up in the air, before quickly pointing at Catra. “But also you have no room to talk, you literally had her last album on repeat for almost a month.”

Another shrug from Catra. “I never said it was a bad thing. Besides, _ Dedicated _is a masterpiece. But, seriously,” Catra pointed a threatening finger, “if they start singing Kumbaya I’m outta there. Ugh, when does this thing even start?” 

Adora pulled out her phone and clicked on the home screen. One of the more recent group pictures of The Horde filled the screen; it was at their usual sushi place after a particularly awesome rehearsal. Rogelio had his arm slung around Kyle, who had just been dared to eat a big piece of wasabi and started choking and wheezing, Lonnie had her middle fingers up, and Adora was giving Catra bunny ears while Catra stuck her tongue out at her.

“We’ve got like two and a half hours before we should get ready to head out.”

“Sweet,” Catra said as she pulled up Hulu on her phone. “I wanted to catch up on _ Bachelor in Paradise _.”

“Oh, so _ those _ straights are okay?”

A shrug.

“Their drama makes me feel good about myself.”

.x.x.x.x.

“God, I feel like I’m about to walk into a weird version of _ Pitch Perfect _ or something,” Catra said from the passenger seat of Adora’s car, her legs propped up on the dashboard.

It had taken them longer than Adora wanted to find Moonstone, the bar (“_bar _”) Bow told her about. Mostly because Catra demanded they stop at Taco Bell only to mourn in disappointment when they found out the nacho fries were gone.

(“_They didn’t even give us a _ warning_, Adora! How was I supposed to know they only thing getting me out of bed in the morning was _ leaving me!")

She still got three Crunchwrap Supremes though.

("_What? I’m hungry.” _

_ “You literally just ate everything in my fridge.” _

_ “I’m really hungry." _)

Despite Bow’s previous insistence that Moonstone wasn’t your usual bar scene, it sure did have the typical “_You’re probably going to be making a lot of poor decisions tonight _ ” vibe Adora was intimately familiar with. It was an unassuming building, overall, with a neon purple _ Moonstone _ sign above the steel door. Adora and Catra grabbed their respective guitar cases from the backseat before walking across the street to the entrance.

_ God, I really hope my car doesn’t get towed. _

“Okay, I’m updating my list,” Catra said, adjusting her hold on her case. “Kumbaya _ or _if some skinny white bitch starts singing No Diggity, I’m out. I will not allow my life to reach that point.”

Adora clicked her tongue. “Damn, there goes my entire set list.”

“Don’t even. I’m so serious. I will hotwire your car and leave you to walk back to your apartment.”

“Okay but why go through all the job of hot wiring my car if you can just take the keys from me?” Adora asked confused.

Catra shrugged in response. “It’s cooler.”

Adora nodded sagely, “I get it.”

They reached the door and stopped before entering. Looking at each other, Adora asked, “Ready?”

Shaking her curls out, Catra nodded. “Let’s see what these princesses have got.”

Taking a deep breath and trying to ignore her pounding heart, Adora pushed open the door.

Suddenly, they understood exactly what Bow meant.

“Holy neon…” Catra whispered.

_ I think I just found the Land of Oz. _

The neon sign above the door was apparently a subliminal warning regarding the inside of Moonstone. Neon signs covered most of the white and pastel-colored walls. Several bright chandeliers hung from the ceiling and reflected on the marble floors. In the back was a decent sized stage, smaller than the ones The Horde played on for most of their gigs, but looked more suited for an acoustic indie show. 

_ Or slam poetry. _

Upbeat music with a soft bass played throughout the venue, several small neon lights shining up from the ground pulsing in time to the beat. To the right of the entrance gold stools with a few patrons sat in front of the bar-top, which had neon purple (_lavender? _) lights built in underneath the rim. Behind the counter were a few smiling bartenders talking to their customers and --

“Oh my god is that a _ milkshake machine_?”

_ Scratch that, I think I just found heaven. _

“What even is this place…”

But a shout from near the stage broke Catra and Adora out of their stupor.

“Adora!” She looked over to see Bow at a table next to the stage, waving with a grin on his face. He said something to the other members of the table -- which appeared to be Glimmer, Perfuma, and a few others Adora didn’t know, before making his way over to the pair.

“Adora, you made it,” Bow greeted happily, sticking his hand up for a high five. Adora smiled in response and tentatively slapped his hand.

“Hey Bow,” she offered in return. A cough sounded next to her, which made Adora smirk. “Bow, this is my best friend slash band mate slash huge pain in my ass, Catra. Catra, this is Bow, who I met yesterday.”

“Great to meet you, Catra,” Bow enthusiastically said, holding his hand up for another high five from Catra this time.

“Likewise,” she replied with a smirk, coolly leaning onto her hard guitar case. After a moment, Bow brought his hand back down, which made Catra’s smirk grow infinitesimally.

“Well, welcome to Moonstone, you guys. I see you brought your guitars, which is perfect. We also have a few spare instruments here, if you wanted to broaden your options. We’ll probably be getting started in a few. In the meantime,” Bow said as he turned slightly to face the rest of the bar, “if you want anything to drink or eat, we’ve got some good stuff available. Uh,” he looked around before pointing to the back left corner, “back there are the bathrooms -- gender neutral, of course -- if you need them later. Or, now, I guess. I don’t want to assume the state of your bladders, ehe,” he finished with a squinty eyed smile and a hand rubbing the back of his neck.

“Thanks, Bow,” Adora cut in before he could ramble anything further. Although, Catra seemed to be enjoying it. “I think we’re alright for now.”

“Uh-huh, cool, alright, yeah,” he squeaked out. “Let’s, um, let’s go and I’ll introduce you to everyone!”

Bow started leading them to the stage where everyone else was.

“Has this boy even hit puberty yet,” Catra whispered to Adora. “He sounds like someone trying to learn how to play the clarinet.” 

Adora elbowed her in the ribs. “Be nice,” she whispered back, but she couldn’t help the small chuckle.

All too quickly they reached the table, and Adora switched the grip on her case and slyly wiped her sweaty palms on her skinny jeans.

_Oh god, there are so many of them…_ _What if they don’t like me? Wait, I shouldn’t care if they like me. Right? I mean, like Catra said, they _are_ the competition. Kinda. But… They do seem like cool people. Well, okay, Catra would totally call them nerds, buuuuuut, doesn’t mean they aren’t nice. Minus them pretty much attacking me yesterday. But also, if they don’t actually like me I can never go back to that coffee shop and I _really _wanted to try their tea. And --_

A small kick to her shoe from Catra.

_ Oh god, Bow has been talking this entire time. _

“-orde and they’ve come to hangout with us and jam!” Bow finished with a broad sweep to the table.

Crickets.

A small cough from someone at the table.

Just as a burning heat began creeping up Adora’s chest and neck, Perfuma spoke up the back of the table.

“So nice to see you again, Adora,” she said with a genuine smile and a wave with her casted hand. Then she lifted up a pastel pink thermos. “Since you had to run out so quickly yesterday, I brought you some more tea! I hope you enjoy it.”

And then everyone seemed to come to life.

_ She brought me tea? Oh my god… I’m gunna cry… _

“Glimmer,” Glimmer introduced herself to Catra by raising her hand. After looking at Bow, she sighed and rolled her eyes before looking at Adora. “_And _ … I’m sorry for raising my -” a cough and another look from Bow. Glimmer pursed her lips. “I’m sorry for _ chasing _ and yelling and accusing you of being an evil villain yesterday,” she mumbled before angrily picking at her nails. 

Catra burst out in laughter and looked at Adora with wide eyes.

“Wait this pixie attacked you yesterday? Holy shit, Adora, you need to look up the definition of ‘nice’ one of these days.” She finished, ecstatic with this new information. But Glimmer just angled her head and narrowed her eyes at Catra.

“Jury is still out on you, so -” another, more strangled sounding cough from Bow. Glimmer just threw her hands up in frustration. “Whatever, welcome to Moonstone. Can’t wait to play some music, or whatever.”

Catra smirked and looked at Adora.

“Let me guess, she plays the bass?”

It was Adora’s turn to burst out laughing. Glimmer groaned and pushed herself away from the table and onto the stage to start fiddling with the mics and other various instruments and tech on the stage.

_ At least now she knows how I felt with everyone making fun of my hair yesterday… I should ask Catra later if it actually looks that bad, though. _

“Very interesting,” a girl with purple hair murmured. “These new members of The Horde correctly guessed Glimmer’s chosen instrument, but the results were an angered Glimmer. Perhaps it is group bias? Unbalanced hormones? Note to self: test Glimmer’s blood sample for traces of -”

“Annnd this is Entrapta,” Perfuma nervously cut in, putting an arm around the still-mumbling girl. “She’s really into, um, science and lots of really cool special effects for our shows.”

That seemed to pull Entrapta out of her bubble.

“Oh -- yes! I quit enjoy ‘people watching,’” she stated making air quotes with her fingers. “The act of observing those in their perceived natural habitats, embracing the collective effervescence of a crowd is one of my favorite hobbies. Also on-stage robotics, fog, lights, and sound effects,” Entrapta finished by counting off on her fingers.

She smiled unblinkingly up at them.

“Pleased to meet you,” Adora offered, not entirely sure what to make of Entrapta. But Catra looked very interested, probably at the idea of cool stage effects.

_Shadow Weaver never lets us go as crazy as we want to. She always claims budget, but those numbers I saw the other day weren’t that low. _

The last girl at the table gave a single, slow wave.

“Hey, I’m Mer-”

“_Meeeeeermiiiiistaaa! _So glad you’re not my sista, but that you’re with this mista. In fact, I wrote a lista all the things I’d miss...ta, if I wasn’t allowed to kiiiiiiiss ya!” Sang a vibrant man, who seemed to appear out of nowhere. He dropped himself into the lap of the other girl and threw his arm around her shoulders. Taking a big breath, but before he could continue his song, the girl interrupted him.

By pushing him off onto the floor.

_ What … in the world... _

“I’m Mermista and this is Sea Hawk,” she said with a tired but mostly monotone voice. 

Sea Hawk popped up from off the floor and jovially made his way over to Catra and Adora.

“It is my greatest pleasure to meet both of you lovely ladies…”

“They’re Adora and Catra, from The Horde,” Mermista supplied from her chair.

Sea Hawk’s mouth dropped open and quickly looked between Catra and Adora and then back to Mermista. Catra. Adora. Catra. Mermista. Adora. Mermista. Catra.

“Sup,” Catra said.

Which seemed to have done the trick.

Sea Hawk gave a quick twirl of his mustache before striding the rest of the way over to Adora and Catra. He pushed between them and threw his arms around their shoulders, squeezing them.

_ Too much Axe spray! Too much Axe spray! Abort, abort immediately! _

“It is fantastic to meet you, Adora and Catra of The Horde! I am humbly called Sea Hawk, but _ you _,” he gave a dramatic pause, and Catra fought her way out from under his arm, “can call me Sea Hawk!” 

He spun away from them and then finished with a deep bow, his hair almost hitting the floor. Straightening back up, he gave them a wide grin full of sparkling white teeth.

Adora stared with a confused and alarmed look on her face while Catra snickered. Instead of greeting Sea Hawk in return, like a regular and nice person would do, Adora pointed a finger at Sea Hawk and blurted out,

“You set your own gear on fire.”

And instead of the expected reaction of guilt, shame, or offense in return, like how a regular and sane person might react, Sea Hawk simply grinned wider and struck a pose with both hands on his hips and chest puffed out.

“Yes. Yes I did. And you know what?” He asked conspiracy.

“...Wha-”

“- It was _ freaking awesome!_”

“Alright, that’s enough,” said Mermista as she stood up from her seat and walked over to Sea Hawk. Grabbing his arm, she began pulling him to the stage. “Time to go tune and warm up and _ not _ set things on fire.”

“He’s weird,” Catra said once they were out of earshot.

But Bow was still standing next to them, and just sighed.

“Yeah. But once you get past the pyromania, he’s pretty cool.” Bow shrugged at their dubious looks. “But anyway. We’re gunna get started once everyone’s warmed up. Feel free to go get drinks or join us on the stage. These things are usually pretty chill: someone will name a song or theme, whoever knows it or wants to play can jump in. Or we just start making music -- whatever the magic in us compels,” he finished with a grin before jumping on stage with the rest of his friends.

“‘Whatever the magic in us compels?’” Catra turned to her. “What in the ever loving fuck did we sign up for tonight, Adora?”

“Look,” Adora was struggling to come up with something to say that would both communicate how anxious she was, but also that she didn’t want Catra to leave her.

(Never did the idea of them both leaving occur to Adora. Because, for whatever reason, she actually wanted to stay.)

“Let’s just see what happens, okay? What have we got to lose?”

“Uh, a good Friday night and some TV. Obvi.”

Adora just rolled her eyes, and started making her way to the stage, only to detour back to the table to grab Perfuma’s thermos of tea.

(“_Holy gods this is amazing!” _

_ “Is it spiked? Because if so I want some. And by some, I mean all of it.” _

_ “We are literally at a bar. Go buy your own drink.” _

_ “How dare you assume I have any money." _)

All too soon, everyone was warmed up and tuned, the music playing through the speakers had quieted down, the patrons in the bar made their ways to various tables and booths, and Glimmer took the center-stage mic.

“Greetings, fellow Moonies, and welcome back to another Friday Night Jam Session, brought to you by yours truly,” Glimmer spoke loudly and clearly, before sweeping her arm to all of her fellow musicians behind her on the stage.

“'_Moonies_’” Catra whispered to Adora, from where they were leaning (read: hiding) in the back of the stage. “What, was ‘Moonstoners’ taken?”

Adora smacked Catra’s arm but it did nothing to quell the other girl’s quiet laughter.

“Tonight is no different from any other jam night. Feel free to shout out a song, or a theme, or a decade, or whatever you want, and we’ll do our best to play it. Okay,” Glimmer said with a clap and a grin, “let’s get started!”

And that’s what they did.

Someone had shouted out the word ‘Friday,’ which sparked Perfuma to run up to a free mic and start singing Rebecca Black.

Clearly it had happened before because everyone started laughing before joining in. Bow had started playing a basic beat on the drum set, Glimmer picked up an extra guitar, Entrapta started messing with the microphone settings and effects, and Mermista sang backup to Perfuma. Sea Hawk began dancing on the side of the stage as the group made their way from pop song to pop song -- with an occasional genre change, and Catra and Adora stood back and took it all in.

But the strangest thing to Adora wasn’t the group’s antics, or how the crowd seemed to genuinely enjoy and look forward to each new song -- no matter how off key they got or when they messed up the words, or even Sea Hawk’s dancing. It was the fact that it was so… Light. Easy. Everyone was enjoying themselves and they didn’t seem stressed about hitting a wrong note or being perfect.

They were just having a good time.

And then she understood why.

_ There’s no Shadow Weaver. _

And it was at that exact moment someone shouted, “_Carly Rae Jepsen_!”

Without letting herself a chance to think about, and choosing instead to just act, Adora ran up to a microphone and began strumming her guitar.

“_I threw a wish in the well, don’t ask me I’ll never tell, I looked to you as it fell, and now you’re in my way._”

Cheers came from the crowd and her new friends --

_ Whoa, wait are they my new friends? I mean, is that allowed? Oh shut up, Adora, they’re totally going to be your new friends. Just try to ignore the lights on you and enjoy yourself. _

Bow jumped in for the next line, with Mermista covering drums, and then the two of them were harmonizing leading into the chorus.

“_Your stare was holdin’, ripped jeans skin was showin’. Hot night, wind was blowing. Where you think you’re going baby?” _

And then everyone was singing the chorus, regardless if there was a mic in front of them or not, grins and laughter from everyone. Adora jumped away from her own microphone and danced back to Catra in the back of the stage. Still strumming her guitar, she sang with a smile lighting up her face, silently asking her best friend to join in.

“_Hey, I just met you. And this is crazy. But here’s my number, so call me maybe?_”

Catra just shook her head in response, still choosing to lean coolly against a brick wall instead of joining. But Adora was having none of that, so she swung her guitar around until it hung against her back, and took both of Catra’s hands and pulled her along to the side of the stage.

“Come on, Catra!” Adora pleaded with laughter in her voice.

Without any prompting, Adora and Sea Hawk began dancing around Catra, hoping to get her to dance or play along. Only when Adora began pouting did Catra eventually roll her eyes, walk up to a free mic, and start moving her shoulders.

“_Y__ou took your time with the call, I took no time with the fall, _ ” Catra began singing, her blank face only encouraging the cheers and laughter. “_You gave me nothing at all, but still you’re in my way,_” here Catra gave Adora a bit of shove, which only pushed her to get her own microphone and join in singing once more.

As the song closed out, Adora caught Catra smiling to herself.

_ God she’s pretty. _

_ Whoa, what the -- okay. Yes, my best friend is objectively beautiful. Beautiful? No I mean pretty. But I’m not saying she _ isn’t _ beautiful, because hello, she totally is. Like, it’s just a fact that her curls are like really soft and nice looking, and her skin is great which isn’t even fair because Catra barely even knows what a skincare routine is, and her voice is always on pitch -- she should totally sing more for The Horde, why doesn’t she sing more? I’ve got to talk to Shadow Weaver about this at our next rehearsal. But anyway, like I was saying, sure she’s gorgeo -- Oh Bow is talking again. _

“-fun so far and please give a warm welcome to our newest Moonies and friends, Adora and Catra!” 

Adora felt her face flush at the claps and whistles emitted from the crowd and the musicians around her. 

“Ha ha,” Catra laughed at her over the noise, “your face is like a tomato.” 

“Shut up, Catra,” she said, kicking her foot. “You’re totally blushing, too,” which she was, lightly.

Catra only shrugged.

“We’re going to go ahead and take a ten minute break. In the meantime, please help yourself to some great food and drink, and don’t forget to tip your bartender,” Bow finished, garnering cheers from those behind the bar.

“I’m going to go see what they’ve got on tap. You want anything?” Catra said, walking backwards toward the bar and hooking a thumb over her shoulder in its direction.

“Nah, I’m good,” Adora shook her head. “Thanks, though. Wait, I thought you didn’t have any money.”

“You don’t always need money to get a drink,” Catra winked, adding extra sway to her walk.

And then she was gone. Adora blinked out of her stupor before walking over and placing her guitar in a free stand. She just started stretching her forearms when Sea Hawk appeared out of nowhere, making her jump.

_ Why do I feel like I’m going to have to get used to that? _

“Adora of The Horde!” He shouted, clasping her shoulder in excitement. “You were fantastic! Really, the vocals, your playing, and finally your stage presence truly rivals the greats!” Sea Hawk finished with a grin, and Adora felt herself becoming red again at the praise.

“Heh, thanks, Sea Hawk. You were great, too. Your dancing was … really something else,” Adora finished with a smile. 

Sea Hawk did another… jig, and finished with a striking pose. “Why thank you, madam! I would have played an instrument -- of which variety was not important for Sea Hawk is well versed in each -- but, alas, none feel right anymore.”

“What do you mean?” Adora furrowed her brows.

Sea Hawk became somber and looked out into the rest of Moonstone, mind clearly elsewhere.

“For someone such as myself, you get used to the thrill of performing. Having a penchant for also adding in pyrotechnics only encourages the audience. It was wild -- quite literally brazen -- but it was Sea Hawk’s controlled wild. Until, suddenly… it was out of my hands.”

Sea Hawk turned back to Adora, tears brimming in his eye alarming Adora.

“Whoa, dude,” she whispered softly.

“I lost it all that day. The marshalls of fire deemed it an electrical incident, but nay, Sea Hawk rebuts that statement. The event had nefarious intentions, ‘twas clear as day. But,” Sea Hawk sighed, “the damage was done and my set and all of my precious instruments -- those who have granted me the chance to bring music and jolly times -- perished. And, thusly, my muse.”

It was quiet a moment as Adora struggled to find something to say. 

“Who died?” Drawled Mermista as she walked up to the pair. She handed Sea Hawk a glass of amber-colored liquid, of which he took gratefully.

“Uh, Sea Hawk’s muse? Apparently?”

Mermista’s usually bored face darkened, before taking a deep breath and turning to Sea Hawk.

“I told you, babe, we’ll figure out who did it.”

Adora could feel her heart speed up and anxiety prickle at her veins. 

“‘Who’? You-you think someone set the fire on purpose? But - heh - isn’t that a bit, I don’t know, too wild of an idea?” Mermista turned her glare back to Adora, but before she could say anything, Adora continued talking. “Sea Hawk,” he looked up at her. “Obviously I am so sorry to hear about your set and all of your instruments. I mean that. If your dancing is that good, I can only imagine how good you were playing. I sincerely hope you find your muse again one day.

“But, seriously, why do you think someone set Sea Hawk’s set on fire?” She asked Mermista.

“Uh, for the same reason Perfuma’s arm is broken, and our,” she motioned between Bow, Glimmer, and herself “band broke up. Someone is trying to sabotage bands. Duh.” 

_ And someone just happened to have a list and details of every band that _ has _ been sabotaged. And - _ oh shit _ \- all the bands that might be next. What if it’s someone here? Who hasn’t… _Entrapta.

“Oh, that is a crazy theory. And definitely one we should look into. I, um, have to run to the bathroom real quick, but we can talk more when I get back.”

Before Sea Hawk or Mermista could reply, Adora was already jumping off the stage and dashing to the bathrooms. Locking herself in an available stall, Adora quickly pulled out her phone and started flipping through the photos of Shadow Weaver’s notes.

“C’mon… C’mon... “ she mumbled, trying to ignore the slight tremor in her hand.

Until, at last..

“Aha! Name: Entrapta. Specialty: stage effects and DJing. Weakness: tiny foods and technology. Blood type -- okay, that’s too much detail for me.”

_ Entrapta’s page, with no X over it. Which means nothing bad has happened to h… Oh no. Nothing bad _ has _ happened, but that doesn’t mean nothing bad _ will _ happen. I’ve got to warn the others about this. _

_ But, wait. Then they’ll ask me how I know. And if I show them the pictures I took, they’ll want to know where _ those _ came from… They’ll probably accuse me - and Catra - of doing… whatever. But, we didn’t. _

_ But that also doesn’t mean that _Shadow Weaver _ hasn’t done anything. And, really, I wouldn’t blame them if they _ did _ accuse us. This entire thing is, like, super shady. And _ really _ messed up. _

Adora made her mind up.

_ The best I can do right now is to keep in contact with everyone in order to keep an eye on Entrapta. Maybe I can try to bait Shadow Weaver into admitting something. That way, if something _ does _ happen, I can… _

_ You can _ what _ Adora? Go to the police with a simple hunch? What is this, the 30s? You need concrete evidence if you’re going to accuse your manager of being evil. And even _ then _Shadow __Weaver and Hordak have people in all places. I doubt anything would actually put them behind bars. No… I’d have to catch them in the act. _

_ But _ how_? _

Adora ran her hands over the top of her hair and through her ponytail in frustration.

“Think, Adora. Think, think, think. You’ve got to figure something out.”

_ God, I need a milkshake. _

Taking a deep breath, Adora put her phone back in her pocket and made to leave the bathroom.

“First step, make sure that Shadow Weaver is the correct target…” she mumbled as she pushed open the bathroom door to the rest of Moonstone.

Only to first hear, then see, Catra and Glimmer arguing.

“-- the _ hell _ are you to assume what kind of person _ I _ am --”

“ -- it’s less of an assumption when it’s backed by clear as day _ facts _ \--”

“Oh no…” Adora groaned before rushing over to the pair.

Glimmer was on her tippy toes, thrusting a finger in Catra’s face, who was leaning over Glimmer with clenched fists. Bow was trying to calm the two girls down, but was very clearly struggling and practically on the verge of tears.

“Guys, _ please _, it was just a misunderstanding, I’m sure! Let’s just, let’s just focus on our breathing, okay? In, two, three, four, five… out, two, three, four, five…” his voice shaky and squeaky, but Glimmer and Catra were too invested in their argument to pay him any mind.

“No you listen here you b--”

“Annnnnnd that’s enough,” Adora forced her way in between the two, shoving them an arm's length away. Despite both Glimmer and Catra struggling against her grip, trying to get back to the other one, Adora continued holding them apart.

_ Ha, how about that for Wonder Woman arms, Catra. Not so funny now, is it? _

Looking at Bow, Adora gave a weak smile. “Uh, Bow, would you mind,” she nodded her head toward Glimmer.

“Yeah,” his voice cracked, but nonetheless, he was able to gentle grab Glimmer back allowing Adora to focus completely on holding Catra.

“Right, well, I think I know a good time for a casual exit, and I think this is going to be ours,” Adora finished with a grimace. “Bow, I want to genuinely thank you for the invitation, I had a blast, and it was nice meeting everyone.”

“For sure, thanks for stopping by, Adora! You’re a really great player and singer. Your vocals are like, top notch.”

“Right, so, bye!” Adora shouted over her shoulder as she started guiding Catra out of the main entrance.

The noise of the music and bustle of Moonstone went quiet with the shut of the door behind them. Catra ripped herself out of Adora’s grip and stalked across the street to Adora’s parked car.

“Oh, no, don’t worry about me, Adora, I’m just pissed off and I won’t even bother looking both ways before crossing a city street. I’m fiiiiine,” Adora mocked under her breath as she made her way (_safely_) to her car.

Catra stood stiff, a glare on her face and arms crossed. The moment Adora unlocked her car door, Catra tore hers open and dropped down into the passenger seat with a huff. Adora sighed.

“I’m going to go back in and get our guitars. Here are the keys,” she said before dropping them on the driver seat and turning back to the bar.

“Why is this always my life,” Adora mumbled running her hand over her hair and through her ponytail. She opened the main door to Moonstone and prayed that Glimmer was either calmer or nowhere insight lest she decide to focus her wrath on Adora.

Lucky for Adora, Glimmer wasn’t anywhere to be found. But Bow was near the stage talking to Perfuma, so she started maneuvering her way through the crowd to them.

“Hey,” Adora interrupted their hushed conversation, both Bow and Perfuma were wearing concerned looks on their faces. But instead of an angry look Adora expect to receive, they gave Adora her own concerned face. 

“Look, Bow, Perfuma, I just wanted to apologize for … whatever happened. Catra has a temper, but it usually doesn’t end up like that. Okay, actually, that’s probably a lie. But,”

“Adora,” Perfuma cut in. “It’s okay. Really,” she reassured. “Glimmer also has quite a temper, so this truly is nothing we haven’t experienced before. Mermista is calming her down in the back, now. All will be okay once more, soon enough.”

“Still.” Adora sighed. “Well, like I said, I’m sorry, but I had a ton of fun before this.” Squaring her shoulders, Adora made her way to the stage to collect their guitars. Once done, but before she could head toward the door to leave again, Bow stopped her with a hand on her arm.

“We had a great time with you here, too, Adora.” 

She smiled at him, and to Perfuma and Entrapta behind him.

“Would you want to swap contact info? That way we could keep in touch and maybe have another one of these sometime,” Bow finished hopefully, pulling out his phone.

Adora bit her lip.

_ This would be a great way to stay in contact and keep updated on Entrapta. But also... I like hanging out with these guys. _

“Yeah, sure,” She finally answered and gave her phone to Bow, who just grinned in response. After a moment Bow gave her her phone back, his own phone lighting up on the stage next to him.

“There - just sent myself a text so I've got your number, too. Do you need any help carrying those?”

“Nah, I’m good. But thanks, Bow. Hopefully I’ll see all of you again soon,” and Adora really did hope for that. She nodded and said goodbye to Bow, Perfuma, and Entrapta, and walked back out into the humid night once more.

_ It’s nice making new friends. _

Adora put the cases in the backseat before dropping down into the driver's seat with a sigh. Her and Catra sat in silence for a long moment.

Adora glanced over at Catra, who was still glaring out of the window.

“Do you wanna talk about it,” she asked hopelessly, already knowing the answer.

Catra deepened her glare and shook her head.

“Right…”

After another pause, Adora started the car, signaled, and pulled out into the street. The neon light of Moonstone shrunk in her mirror as the silence in the car became heavier.

Finally, when the silence became too much for Adora, she flipped on her old car radio.

“_-here’s my number, so call me _-”

Only for Catra to slam it off again.

“So…”

More deafening silence.

“You wanna get McFlurries and put booze in them?”

A glance from Catra.

“... Fuck yeah.”

And -- finally -- Catra smiled and let her shoulders relax.

_ We’re going to be just fine. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah yes, what could possibly go wrong?
> 
> Big changes are a'coming in the next chapter! Feel free to drop a line in the comments below or you can find me at whatwordsmiss.tumblr.com :)
> 
> Thanks!


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